Malacañang said on Tuesday it would not be fair to compare the COVID-19 situation in President Rodrigo Duterte's hometown Davao City and in Quezon City, which has consistently recorded high figures of coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic.

The most populous Philippine city, Quezon City has regularly been among areas that tally the highest COVID-19 cases daily. But OCTA Research group warned Davao City has logged a 54-percent growth rate in cases and could surpass Quezon City's new coronavirus infections.

"I don’t think it’s a fair comparison," Palace spokesman Harry Roque said in a press briefing, when asked to react to the OCTA report.

He said Quezon City was placed under stricter lockdown for about 2 months to arrest a surge in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila and 4 surrounding provinces.

Davao, meanwhile, was previously under looser quarantine. The city also provides health care to patients from other areas, said Roque.

"Hindi tayo pupuwede magkumpara na apple-to-apple dahil iba ‘yong sitwasyon sa Davao," he said.

(We cannot compare apple-to=apple because the situation in Davao is different.)